Lazy Man’s Meatballs and Pasta

Today I was going to blog about San Francisco, but I had to deal with some bullshit at work and came home late. I was tired to do much, so I decided to cook meatballs and pasta, and then I thought it looked freaking awesome, so I am going to blog about my dinner instead.

I tried making meatballs once, it was disastrous. My meatballs were crumbly and they fell apart quickly when frying. No matter, I just learned a wonderful trick when watching Felicitas of FoodTube fame.

I like Felicitas. She’s Argentinian, that’s hot. She speaks English with a Latino accent, that’s doubly hot. She usually cooks outdoors over wood or coal fire, that’s triply hot.

Anyway, this is the wonderful trick I learned: small bread pieces soaked in milk.

Mix the bread with the minced meat (I use a mixture of minced pork and minced mutton this time) and seasoning, and then roll them into balls and fry the balls, and voila, my balls did not fall apart!

Fry the balls over medium heat for a few minutes each side, turning them occasionally. The balls are ready when they turn golden brown on each side, slightly charred.

For the sauce, I decided to use the ingredients that Felicitas always uses. Onion and garlic finely chopped into the pan, fry until fragrant,

And then finely chopped red bell pepper, green bell pepper and tomato, all added into the pan. And then drizzle some vinegar into the mix (I think my apple cider vinegar qualifies as vinegar, no?).

I think this would be a version of salsa criolla that Felicitas might be proud of..

No, wait.. what the f**k am I doing? Salsa criolla is not supposed to be cooked..

Damn.. what the hell.. Since I messed up, might as well mess it up further. Time to add even more flavours to Lazy Man’s salsa by adding a tablespoon of soy sauce and a tablespoon of Nando’s Hot Peri-Peri Sauce. I don’t know, but I think this will work..

Balls done, salsa done, time to make things look pretty. I boiled some capellini (very thin spaghetti) earlier, that goes as base. Then arrange my balls on top of the pasta..

Then pour the salsa on top of the balls to make the plate of food look pretty.

There, it’s done. Lazy Man’s Oriental Style Meatballs and Capellini.

Actually, it’s not really a lazy man’s kind of dish. I spent almost an hour making this. What the hell am I thinking?

28 Comments

I think maybe the bread trick is a Latin trick, since the video is about an Argentinian.
I thought you moved (or are moving) to a new place, isn’t it? Should’ve gotten a place with bigger kitchen space..

I always thought my home cooked ones taste better than cafe ones when it comes to pasta. It is not a compliment of my cooking skills, it is more like a disdain to the cafe cooks’ lack of skills and ingredients..

awww meatballs pasta!! this is something I like!! and thank-you you for the tips to mixed in the bread so the meat won’t fall apart, brilliant!! wow, you where got lazy?? you even researched before cooking!! if me, my meatball pasta will just turn into bolognese!!! muahahaha!!! 😀

Good morning! Your meatballs and pasta do look freaking awesome! This me thinks is your most photogenic dish so far 😀 I salute you for going through all that trouble after coming home from work. I can’t cook after work. No mood, no strength 🙁

Wow your dinner looks so pretty.. Hou yau sum kei cook wor, like a dedicated housewife, oops no, houseman, no, housewife, whatever *blueekkkk*
I like the idea that you mixed those bread soaked with milk into the meat.. For me, I always marinate minced pork with soya sauce and pepper, then roll into balls and fry, they never fall apart.. No corn starch, no egg.. Then open a can of Campbell, and cook together with the balls, and eat with spaghetti, that’s all..

Corn starch? Egg? That’s another trick people use to make the balls stick together? Hmm..
I don’t know why my meatballs previously always fell apart, maybe not enough moisture, or I did not pack them hard enough..

Came home late from work and yet you have the energy to cook up such amazing meatballs pasta which involved rolling out individual meatballs and frying them; chopping up vegetables and stirfrying them; cook the pasta separately and putting them together – so much work!!! – you are truly the AMAZING Lazy Man. This meal I think is one of the best of all your homecooked meals.